Module 1

our school
whole brain teaching
whole brain teaching

Go to

class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

Pre-listening

Get in groups and talk about

the pictures.
Complete the chart.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

Pre-listening

Whole Brain Teaching is a philosophy of

teaching and learning that aims to activate
students' brains for maximal involvement in
the learning process.
It is based on seven core components,
referred to as The Big Seven:
•Attention getting
•Rules
•Activating
•Motivation
•Unifying the class
•Getting the students more involved
•Focusing
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

While listening

Watch this video to understand how

whole brain teaching works in
practice.
Can you make any connections
between this video and the pictures
you described in the See-Think-
Wonder chart?
Revise the chart with what you have
learnt in the video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8zHAK0vJM
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

While listening

Get in of 4
Student 1 reads routines 1 and 2.
Student 2 reads routines 3 and 5.
Student 3 reads routine 4.
Student 4 reads routines 6 and 7.

Explain the routine you read about to your

classmates. If possible, give an example,
model or demonstrate it.
whole brain teaching
The Teacher gets his students'
attention by saying the word, Class! planning and focus of attention. Little if any
or Classity Class! Students are
expected to respond, Yes! or Yessity
Yes!
class handbook, pages 13-16
20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook
1
Attention-Getting  Class-Yes
Our primary attention-getter activates the
prefrontal cortex, the brain’s boss. The
prefrontal cortex controls decision making,
learning can take place if the prefrontal
cortex is not engaged. We think of the
Class-Yes as a brain switch that readies
students for instruction.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

2
Motivation  The Scoreboard
We believe our Scoreboard is the fastest, most entertaining
The teacher uses a scoreboard to keep the
and, for limited teaching budgets, the cheapest motivational
students motivated. The scoreboard is a
system in elementary education. The Scoreboard replaces
smiley/frowny face diagram. When students
marbles in a jar, candy, table points, play money and other
are doing well, he/she marks a point on the
classroom reward strategies. When an instructor marks a
smiling side, claps his/her hands, and says,
Smiley or a Frowny on the Scoreboard, students experiment
Oh yeah! When students are doing poorly,
a small, positive or negative, feeling. To avoid habituation,
he/she marks something near the frown
the Scoreboard is set up in levels, like a video game.
and says, Aw! The Teacher is mindful never
November’s Level Two Scoreboard presents challenges not
to let the difference between good and bad
dreamed of in September’s Level One… and oh no! What’s
points exceed three. He/she gives the
coming in December’s Level Three?! The Scoreboard is very
students a reward like a learning game if
useful as well to create peer pressure and to encourage all
they receive 25 smiley points.
but the most rebellious kids to participate in learning
activities.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

3
Unifying the Class  Mirror
As mentioned above, many brain scientists
The teacher uses a strategy called the believe that we learn by mirroring the
mirror to get the class very involved.gestures and activities of others. They have
He/she holds up his/her hands and says,identified mirror neurons in the brain that are
Mirror! Then the class repeats, Mirror! andactivated by mimicking the behavior we
imitates the Teacher’s gestures as he/sheobserve. When a class mirrors the teachers’
teaches. This maximizes their gestures and, when appropriate, repeats our
engagement. words, a powerful learning bond is created as
the teacher and students’ visual and motor
cortex engage each other.
whole brain teaching 4
Activating  Teach-Okay
Brain and learning research indicates that students learn the most
when they are involved in teaching each other. By emphasizing
energetic,
After the Teacher instructional
has used direct gesturing we engage, during Teach-Okay
sessions,
instruction or taught five students
his/her of students’ brain areas: visual cortex /ˈkɔːteks/
something directly(seeing gestures),he/she
and explicitly, motor cortex (making gestures), Broca’s area
/ˈbrəʊkəz
claps his/her hands severaleəriə/
times (verbalizing
and says a lesson), Wernicke’s area (hearing a
the word, Teach!lesson),
He/sheand asksthe limbic system, (giving emotional content to a
his/her
students to repeat lesson.) As you clapping
his/her precise will see, a key component of our Teach-Okay
pattern and say,method is thatthey
Okay! Then, teachers
turn tomust
a speak briefly, often not more than 30
seconds,
neighbor and teach each before asking students to rehearse the lesson with each
other whatever
other.
the Teacher has just Remember
taught them, that
usingshort term memory has limited capacity,
hand gesturesthree to seven items.
to incorporate theirThe longer teachers talk, the more students
understanding into wetheir
lose.body
Conversely,
as well the
as more students repeat lessons to each
theirother,
mind.especially while using descriptive gestures, the more
students are engaged… and the more lessons are embedded in
long term memory.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

5
The Five Classroom Rules
Our classroom rules not only efficiently
Each day, the Teacher practices his activate five areas of every student’s brain
classroom rules along with gestures. (visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca’s area,
More on the exact rules will follow, butWernicke’s area /ˈwɜːnɪkəz eəriə/, and limbic
the purpose of repeating rules is to system) but also, because they are frequently
make them an active part of classroomrehearsed, involve the brain’s mirror neurons.
exchanges rather than just something Orderly behavior creates the mirroring of
that stays passively on the wall orderly behavior… which causes teachers and
students to mirror each other’s happy faces.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

6
Getting students more involvedSwitch
Sometimes, when the students are doingSome students talk easily, often too easily!
Teach-Okay, the Teacher calls out Switch!Other students fall into the role of passive
This way, he/she makes sure that the listeners. In terms of brain structure, classes
Students who are more likely to do the are often divided between those who are
teaching, stop and do the listening as well, Brocaians (speakers) and Wernikites
and vice versa. (listeners). By using Switch, an instructor can
easily teach listening skills to the speakers and
speaking skills to the listeners.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

7
When the Teacher has an especially Focusing  Hands and Eyes
important point to make, he/she says,
When we are making an important point, we
Hands and Eyes! The students understand
want students to focus intensely on what we
that they should repeat Hands and Eyes!
are saying. Hands and Eyes creates instant
Then, they should fold their hands and
silence, eliminating all learning distractions;
stare at him vey intently. the prefrontal cortex takes control of brain
activity focusing the visual cortex and the
auditory cortex on the instructor’s lesson.
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

Some words are difficult to pronounce because we

aren’t sure where the stress is

 find out how to pronounce them correctly OALD

 mark the stress (dictionaries usually mark the stress with a mark
before the stressed syllable e.g. /ɪˈsenʃl/:

important
activate
teacher
observe
understand
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

A stressed syllable
It is l-o-n-g-e-r - com p-u-ter
It is LOUDER - comPUTer
It has a change in pitch from the syllables coming before and
afterwards. The pitch of a stressed syllable is usually higher.
It is said more clearly -The vowel sound is purer. Compare the
first and last vowel sounds with the stressed sound.
It uses larger facial movements - Look in the mirror when
you say the word. Look at your jaw and lips in particular.
It is equally important to remember that
the unstressed syllables of a word have
the opposite features of a stressed
syllable!
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

Listen to these two- & three-syllable words:

patterns of stressed & unstressed syllables

Oo April, thirty, morning, Sunday

oO July, midday, thirteen, today, thirteenth
Ooo Saturday, thirtieth, yesterday, holiday, seventy
oOo September, tomorrow, eleventh
ooO Afternoon, seventeen, twenty-one
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

on pronunciation

What is the stress pattern of the words

highlighted in the text?
1. Oo
2. oO
3. Ooo
4. oOo
5. ooO
whole brain teaching
class handbook, pages 13-16

20-21 E1 1.2 whole brain teaching_handbook

on pronunciation

primary behavior
attention strategy
instruction encourage
What is the stress student rebellious
pattern of the words lesson distraction
highlighted in the gesture listener
text? memory scientist
1. Oo repeat neuron
2. oO classroom engage
3. Ooo
4. oOo
5. ooO